CEW Partners With NPD To Make 2008 Beauty Awards More Exclusive

Cosmetic Executive Women will team up with the NPD Group to edit and pare down the categories for their beauty awards to elevate competition and take the prestigious annual event to the next level, according to CEW President Carlotta Jacobson.

CEW and NPD will keep an eye on the marketplace over the course of the year "to see what's trending in the stores" before determining new categories for 2008, Jacobson told "The Rose Sheet" May 10.

NPD also will help CEW better define existing categories to eliminate confusion over which products are most suitable contenders, she said.

The CEW Beauty Awards is an annual event honoring the most innovative products of the year. In 2007 awards were given in 33 categories ranging from sun protection products to fragrances to lip treatments.

Over 4,000 beauty professionals voted on the winners, which were announced at a May 2 event in New York (¹ 'The Rose Sheet' May 7, 2007, In Brief).

One influential trend this year, Jacobson noted, was anti-aging "from head to toe," promised even by hair products such as Frédéric Fekkai Ageless Damage-Defense Capsules , which won the "hair care and coloring product $15 and over" category.

Items that brighten the skin represent another growing category, Jacobson said. This year, Shiseido won the "peel and mask $25 and over" category with its Benefiance Pure Retinol Face Mask .

She suggested that brightening technology or some other anti-aging subcategory could have an award all its own in 2008.

A particularly innovative product in 2007 came from Procter & Gamble's SK-II brand, Jacobson said. Air Touch Foundation uses a spray to deliver flawless coverage; it captured the "face product $18 and over" award.

The exec suggested that Air Touch Foundation has met with success because it addresses a classic problem: You "want [foundation] to make your skin look perfect but you don't want to look like you have foundation on," she said.

Jacobson forecasts that new advances in makeup in 2008 will revolve around mascara, particularly in terms of improving the applicator to make mascara easier to apply and wear.

The ascendance of natural and organic items is likely to continue unchecked as consumer interest in green products ripens, according to Jacobson.

"We're just beginning to see a little bit, but I think it's going to grow," she said.

The Indie Beauty Award, given to a small independent beauty company, was won in 2007 by skyn ICELAND, which has a natural products positioning. Two other nominees for the award also focus on natural ingredients.

The Beauty Awards this year did not recognize many cosmeceutical products, but the category is blossoming, Jacobson said.

She predicted that the next development in cosmeceuticals will consist of partnerships between beauty firms and pharmaceutical companies that make prescription aesthetic products.

For example, a joint venture could give rise to a skin-care line that compliments a prescription filler product, Jacobson said.

Beauty consultant Wendy Lewis discussed the blurring boundary between drugs and cosmetics in an April interview with "The Rose Sheet" (² (Also see "Line Between Beauty And Pharma Blurs As Both Chase Aesthetics Market" - HBW Insight, 16 Apr, 2007.), p. 3).

In addition to enjoying industry's recognition, CEW Beauty Award winners can display a logo announcing their products as such. Jacobson appeared on the Today show May 4 to promote the winners.

"Our goal for the beauty awards has always been to promote innovation in the industry to the consumer, and to turn that consumer interest into sales," Jacobson said at the event. "In our thirteenth year, the distance from the beauty awards to the cash register is shorter."

The awards also have a significant Internet presence. As a result of partnerships brokered by CEW this year with CVS, Macy's, Sephora and Ulta, "Buy Now" buttons have been added to the CEW Web site directing Net users to the retailers' Web sites.

- Molly Laas ([email protected])